Three weeks later
“Diggy diggy hooooooole!”
“FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS THOMAS, IF YOU DON’T STOP THAT DAMNED SONG I AM GOING TO CUT OUT YOUR TONGUE!” Alfred screeched, throwing down his shovel. “Three weeks. Three weeks and the same damn song and I’m sick of it.” By this point all work had stopped as we watched the spectacle unfold. He stomped over to where Thomas was working, gesturing along the trench, “We are digging trenches, not holes. You are six feet tall, if you were a dwarf you would be a fucking giant. And if you were born underground, you would be the product of a daikon, not whatever you were singing!”
“Aw calm your tits there Alfie. Everyone knows a song makes the day go faster.” Thomas retorted, ruffling the shorter man’s hair.
“Both of you, that’s enough!” I bellowed as I saw the rage flash across Alfred’s face. “Thomas and everyone else, back to work and find another song. The more trenches we have, the better off we will be when the bloodsuckers finally get here. Alfred, a word. Dorian, you’re in charge.” Taking Alfred aside, I made sure we were out of earshot of everyone. “What’s wrong?” I asked in a much gentler tone than I think he was expecting.
“Sorry sir, the song-“
“Nope.” I interrupted. “Try again. The song is annoying, but you’ve been grumpy all week and this is the last straw. You were seconds away from blows with your brother in arms. Tell me what’s bothering you so I can fix it.”
Alfred stared at me for a bit, before his shoulders slumped and he whispered, “Paul.”
“Paul? What about him?” I prompted, wondering where this was going. That must have been just enough, as the floodgates opened.
“It’s that damnable scouting they have him doing!” He hissed in barely checked rage, tears starting to collect in the corners of his eyes. “There’s something in that stone maze that is messing with him, and with his sleep schedule different than ours I know he isn’t getting the sleep he needs! His eyes have more bags than the quartermaster and he just stares off into space while we eat. I could put pig slop in front of him and he’d still eat it without a word!”
Flinching in shock, I asked, “Seriously? Why hasn’t either one of you come to me then?”
“He told me not to, and he doesn’t feel like he is supposed to come to you anymore. He tried bringing it up to the scout leader, but he was dismissed.”
“Shit.” I muttered. Clavis had put us in an awkward position with Paul, but I didn’t think it was this bad. I had the outlines of a plan, but needed to work through it with Dorian. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. I need you to get back to work, and make an effort with Thomas. It doesn’t have to be a public apology, but I do expect you to try and mend the fence.”
“Sure, sure.” He nodded. “Annoying bastard probably didn’t deserve that tongue lashing.”
“Great. Now, let’s get back to it.” I said, handing him back his shovel.
“Oi, midget!” He shouted as he headed back, and I shook my head as he gave one of the most passive aggressive faux-pologies I have ever heard that had everyone laughing. I took a moment to look over our work. After we had finished the basic setup for the forward base, Clavis volunteered us for the backbreaking defensive work. We were to dig a maze of trenches, while the other groups split guard duty and lining the trenches with bamboo punji sticks. At least he was decently adept at it, as the three sides that faced the most likely enemy attack didn’t have a straight shot to the fort. In fact, the meandering path was long enough that it would almost be easier to go around to the backside of the fort and attacking there.
“Dorian.” I nodded as I returned.
“Brandon.” He nodded back, taking a moment to stretch his back. “Any chance of a quick pick me up?”
“Sure.” I sighed, grunting as I used my blood connections to draw in a lot of the muscle fatigue the group was working with. “That should get them to dinner at least. I’ll do it again before bed. I do need you for some advice.”
“Digging advice?” He asked hopefully.
“Political.”
“No, you can’t kill him.”
“Pretty please? It would make all this so much easier, and we wouldn’t have the shit posts.”
“That’s not how the game is played. Now what is the problem?”
“Paul.” I replied, smiling a bit at his confused look. “He’s basically been seconded to the scouts, and they are ignoring his issues.” As I explained, Dorian’s furrowed brows cleared. “What can I technically get away with, without causing direct retribution?”
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“Hmmm.” He grumbled, rubbing his chin. After a moment, he replied, “Well, since there are no technical transfer orders Paul is still theoretically under your command. You shouldn’t have any issues if you have a talk with Paul. You can’t order him not to work with the scouts, but you can remind him to bring problems to you. Not that hearing them come from you instead of Paul will help much, but we can still work with Paul to help him out.”
“Alright, we will go with your way for now.” I nodded, wracking my brain for how I could help Paul. “Still think it would be better to just kill him.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Paul, I’m coming in.” I said loudly as I pulled his tent flap open. It was a bit before he had to get up for dinner, but I wanted to get him when I knew he would be alone. I chuckled a bit as I saw the wide eyed scout half falling out of bed with his legs tangled in the sheets, gladius pointed towards me.
“Brandon?” He asked, confused, shaking his head as clarity returned to him slowly. As he put away his blade, I took my time to look him over. Alfred was right. Paul was definitely looking a bit more gaunt, and his face had lost a good bit of color while his eyes were bloodshot and baggy.
“Paul, take a seat.” I said, sitting in Alfred’s cot. Taking a deep breath before the plunge, I decided to attack straight on. “I know something’s bothering you, but I can’t help if you don’t let me. So tell me what the deal is, and I’ll do everything in my power to fix it.”
“Clavis said-“
“Fuck Clavis.” I snarled as Paul flinched at the venom in my tone. “That asshole will get what’s coming to him, don’t worry about that. But until they give me the orders that you are officially transferred to the scouts, you are still my soldier.” I paused a moment, centering myself. “Look man. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk like that about a superior officer, but I’m new to this politics and leadership stuff and it’s just so damn frustrating. Solaris knows I’m going to make a ton of mistakes, and I’ll need you guys to let me know when I am. So talk to me. Tell me what’s going on, because you look like shit.”
I waited, watching as he stared at his shaking hands. After what seemed like a silent eternity, he started so quietly I had to strain to hear it, even with my enhanced hearing. “They’ve had us mapping the stone maze. It should be easy, but there’s something wrong with that place. Have you been in there?” He asked, looking up at me with a desperate hope in them. One I had seen on my sister’s face a thousand times, where she was looking at the last person she would tell and hope they believed her instead of shattering her trust.
“I haven’t.” I shook my head. “Tell me about it. What’s wrong with it?”
“The walls.” He shuddered, immediately looking down. “They have. . . scenes on them. Disturbing scenes. People being mauled, faces caught in agony. If that was it, I could deal. But it isn’t. It’s. Fuck.” He shuddered, muscles clenching. “I swear to Solaris they change. Man beasts that are tearing into people will be looking at you for a second. Agony flashes to ecstasy and back in the corner of your eye. An open clawed fist will close. Subtle, and never if you are looking directly at it.”
“Is it an illusion?” I asked, knowing Paul was one of the better at detecting when magic was affecting his senses.
“No.” He immediately replied. “That’s what I thought at first, so I measured a face. When I came back the next day? It was just slightly wider than the day before. I tried talking to the scout leader, but he immediately dismissed it and said I was wrong. ‘If a wittle stone maze is too scawy for you we can send you back.’” He mocked the leader’s voice. He sat there silently for a bit as I thought over what I had just heard. “That’s not all. It’s hard to remember more than three turns on whatever route you are taking. Guidance markings shift ever so slightly. In random places there are statues of these beastly men. Some have the heads and hands of tigers, but they are wrong. The arms are a bit too long, the torsos too short. The hall of onis is horrible. Seven feet tall with one or two horns randomly on their faces, they have crude weapons and are killing statues of men. The Oni King though.” He shuddered at the memory. “Ten feet tall with three men skewered on his spear, his forehead has a third eye and there’s a crown of horns around his head. His scraggly hair frames a face with a malicious grin, and his ruby eyes seem to follow you no matter where you are in the room.” He paused once again to try and gather himself. “All that I could honestly probably deal with, but there is a constant sense of being watched throughout the maze. That along with the hints of aura I get from everywhere and well.” He said, finally looking me in the eye. “It’s hard to tell through the mists, but I think the stone maze has something controlling it. Just like the movement from the corner of my eyes, I’ll feel a flash of aura somewhere. Too quickly to get a lock on it, just a general direction, but.”
“It’s ok.” I said. Judging by the tears in his eyes, he was seconds away from breaking down. “We will look into it, and do our best to help you out. Can you get me a copy of your map in progress? I want to memorize it and do a bigger blood exchange with you. Strengthen our connection.”
“Sure, sure. We can do that.” He said, drawing a dagger and motioning to two cups they had on a spare seat. “Use those, they should be clean.” Seconds later and we had both gulped down a bit of blood, and Paul was looking quite a bit better. He still had some paleness to his skin, but a quick burst of magic had gotten rid of the bags under his eyes.
“DECANUS!” We both started as we heard Clovis yelling for me.
“In here Centurion!” I answered, stepping out.
“What were you doing in there Decanus?”
“Helping one of my soldiers, Centurion.” I immediately snapped, getting a raised eyebrow at my answer.
“Your soldier?”
“Indeed.” I said, barely stopping myself from adding until otherwise ordered. Dorian’s advice about not giving too much information away hitting me at just the right time.
“Very well. I must say I am rather impressed with the trench defenses you have managed to dig in this time. We should start getting in reinforcements soon. I need more teams to be familiar with the area, so tomorrow you will start patrolling up to the entrance of the stone maze. The scouts are close to finishing mapping it out, and I want us ready to rush through it and attack whatever is on the other side.”
“I’ll make sure we are prepared sir.” I said, giving him a salute as he walked away. Despite how my talk with Paul turned out, I still felt an uneasy lump in my stomach. Hopefully it will be pre-battle jitters.